La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón was established in November 2009 by Ivelisse “Bombera de Corazón” Díaz. As an Afro-Puerto Rican diasporic performing arts school, La Escuelita is committed to the preservation of Bomba through percussion (buleo, maraca, cúa), dance (baile), vocals (canto), and history. Investing in the historic Humboldt Park Puerto Rican community yet with a global reach through virtual class options, La Escuelita continues to teach and protect the fundamental elements through basic, intermediate, and advanced courses structured around the genre’s rhythms.
Students of La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón have unique access to top bomberxs, historians, song writers, families, instrument crafters, and community organizers of Bomba. Through lectures and La Escuelita’s annual “De Paseo con La Escuelita” immersion course to Puerto Rico, students are ignited with passion for cultural preservation, resistance, and empowerment. La Escuelita’s objectives are to educate students on the bomberx community that created space for organizations like La Escuelita to exist, while challenging them to be active defenders and contributors within the tradition of Bomba.
With a vision at the intersection of art education and social justice, La Escuelita Bombera De Corazón’s bombastic pedagogy forms in-person and virtual sessions into a batey of embodied learning, reciprocity, healing, and remembrance in the spirit of Bomba’s Black liberation struggle.
